Mary Snow Parrigin Brandon

Mary Snow Parrigin Brandon is more joyful today than ever in her existence on this earth. She has attained the ultimate victory, joining her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Heaven forever on Oct. 19, 2021.

Born in Monticello, Ky., on April 22, 1926, Mary Snow lived a long, full life, reaching the age of 95. She has been ready to go Home for quite awhile. Following a stroke in September 2014, she told her family that she often prayed for the Lord to either heal her or take her Home.

Mary Snow gained her greatest joy in recent years from visits with her great-grandchildren — sometimes in person, sometimes on virtual calls. The Lord blessed her with 11 of these sweet children, one of whom, Mackenzie Kintner, went ahead of Mary Snow and was there to greet her great-grandmother.

Also welcoming her there was her husband of 47 years, C. Edward Brandon Jr., as well as her parents, Dr. Oliver Hazard Perry Parrigin Sr. and Mary (Mai) Isabel Akers Parrigin. Her sister, Nancy Isabel Parrigin Bell, and her husband Robert Bell, and brothers Oliver Hazard Perry Parrigin Jr. and Robert Able Parrigin and his wife, Eileen Parrigin, also preceded her in death as did nieces Joy Lee Parrigin Jones and Linda Parrigin.

Mary Snow leaves behind to cherish her memory her three children and their spouses. Daughter Sheila Bono (Mike) of Lake Mary, FL; son, Ches Brandon (Linda) of Louisville; and daughter Carol Brandon Timmons (Tom) of Louisville. Tom and Carol welcomed Mary Snow into their home at her request in April 2016, and she expressed her appreciation to them daily for caring for her.

In addition, Mary Snow is survived by nine grandchildren: Mickey Bono, Kimberly Bono Kintner (Scott), Kyle Bono and Ryan Bono (Chelsea) all of Lake Mary, FL; Tim Brandon of Louisville; Brad Brandon (Natalia) of Pensacola, FL; Lisa Brandon Joiner (Travis) of Henryville, IN; and Mary Brooke Timmons and Greg Timmons of Louisville.

Also, Mary Snow is survived by great-grandchildren whom she adored: Brayden, Marissa and Makayla Kintner; Parker Brandon; Landon Bono; Addison and Austin Bono; and Olivia, Paul and Esther Joiner. She also leaves to fondly remember her several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews as well as many extended family members and friends.

Mary Snow — or Ms. Mary as some people called her — fully embraced her Christian faith in September 1969. She often referred to her "second birthday" with delight since that is when she completely understood the significance of Jesus' promise of forever in Heaven for those who accept His offer — made possible by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

Once she claimed this promise and realized how important it is for true believers to share their faith, Mary Snow became a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, joining and starting Christian organizations in Louisville, Ky., and Lakeland, FL where she and her husband, Ed, relocated in 1984.

In Louisville, she served as president of Christian Women's Club, and she and Ed were among a handful of couples who established Christian Couples Club and the local presence of Young Life. She and Ed often spent weekends traveling across the eastern half of the United States, helping struggling churches through an organization called Lay Witness Mission.

Mary Snow's proudest accomplishment in her service to the Lord was helping establish Bible Study Fellowship in Louisville. She and four other women traveled to Columbus, Ind., once a week for several years in the mid-1970s in order to complete the BSF program so that it could have the required leadership to be established here. Since then, many thousands of men and women have benefited from the BSF study program in Louisville. Mary Snow also had the chance to help establish Bible Study Fellowship in Lakeland, FL ,and was a leader of that group, too.

As for her church membership, Mary Snow was a longtime member of Monticello, Ky., Christian Church, Beargrass Christian Church in Louisville and First Presbyterian Church in Lakeland, where her service included being a small group Bible study leader and a member of the Stephen Ministry. Since returning to Louisville in 2016, Mary Snow worshiped at Northeast Christian Church.
Mary Snow's leadership and community service were not limited to faith-based groups. Mary Snow was a former member of the Women's Republican Club of Jefferson County. She once served as president of the Lakeland Meet and Greet organization, and she was a longtime member and held many offices in the Lakeland Women's Club. Late in life she trained to be a Hospice volunteer and took seriously her role in bringing comfort to the people she was assigned to help.

Mary Snow also was an avid china painter when she lived in Lakeland and has left many expressions of her artistic endeavors for her family to enjoy — just as her own mother did. Mary Snow also was a wonderful cook and in her later years in Lakeland, she was known as the "Cookie Lady." She shared her baked treats everywhere from her bank to her hair salon to the grocery store and car repair business among others.

Mary Snow was a 1944 graduate of Monticello, Ky., High School where she was class valedictorian. She was a 1946 graduate of Cumberland College and a 1948 graduate of the University of Kentucky, where she was a member of Chi Omega sorority. She was employed by The Blood-Horse magazine as a proofreader and administrative assistant until she chose to become a homemaker and active community servant.

Visitation will be held on Monday, Oct. 25, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Newcomer Funeral Home, 235 Juneau Drive in Middletown. A celebration of her life will be held at the funeral home at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 26, followed by burial at Cave Hill Cemetery. To watch the funeral ceremony via live stream, please click here.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that Mary Snow's memory be honored by donations made to Bible Study Fellowship online at bsfinternational.org.

Now that she has joined Jesus and others she loved who preceded her to Heaven, Mary Snow is surely experiencing a peace and joy not attainable on this Earth. Those she leaves behind will miss the devoted Christian and treasured family member she was. But she would encourage them not to shed a tear upon her passing because she is in a place where she longed to be for so many years. And Mary Snow would remind us that life on Earth is short and one day we will celebrate together again when we all get to Heaven.